Beyond Organic Local Farm Products

Book Review: Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich

As we were beginning this homesteading adventure, I read Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. This book was not worth reading. It was all I could do to finish it, and I would not recommend it.

The biggest issue I have with this book is how the author writes about mistakes that she made, but all of these mistakes were easily preventable by anyone who took the time to do any research before blundering in. All of her mistakes caused the deaths of animals. Wonginrich says in the book that she’s a Buddhist vegetarian, yet she obviously made no effort to learn about what she was doing and take simple steps to protect the animals under her care. In one situation, Woginrich gets beehives. She lives in bear country, and everyone knows that bears love beehives, well everyone except for Woginrich apparently. It is common among beekeepers to put electrified wire around hives if they live in bear country, but somehow the author missed the memo! Her beehives get ravaged by a bear. Woginrich makes similarly avoidable mistakes that cost the lives of chicks and rabbits. It’s disgusting. To me, she seems like an dolt, and why would you read a book written by someone stupider than you?

Another issue I had with this book is that the author does not write by relaying her experiences, but rather by telling the reader what to do. I don’t want to be told what to do by someone who’s not doing such a good job herself. Her writing style comes across in a way that is demeaning to the reader.

Do yourself a favor, and avoid this book. Right now homesteading is such a hot topic, there’s a lot available on the topic, and not all of it’s good. I’ll let you know when I read something that’s worth the time!